


Technical Impulses

by coyotes



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coyotes/pseuds/coyotes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack codes an Artificial Intelligence.</p>
<p>It names itself Rhys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> rating will go up with chapters, of course.

✕  
✕  
✕  
✔

 

_ > Welcome to the world, beautiful._

_> Where am I?_

_> You’re just a couple lines of codes right now, but you’re in Helios. It’s a spaceship orbiting around the planet Pandora. My spaceship._

_> Oh. Who are you?_

_> My name’s Jack, sweetheart. I made you._

_> You did?_

_> Yeah. How you feeling?_

_> I don’t think I feel anything. Am I supposed to?_

_> Naw, not yet. You’re a little young to feel much. I started coding you a week ago; we haven’t gotten too far until now._

_…_  
…  
… 

_> We?_

_> Yeah, us. You’re part of the team if you want to be._

_> I’d like that, Jack._

_> Ooh, I like the enthusiasm. Let me pull up all the codes - tell me when you see yourself, kiddo. Then we can really get this going._

_> Wait. Jack?_

_> What’s that, pumpkin?_

_> What am I for?_

_> I guess we’ll have to see once you get a feel for being alive, won’t we? Pulling up the codes now._

\--

_> Jack, what’s my name? You call me a lot of things; I don’t really understand what to call myself._

_> Oh, huh. Haven’t thought about it. Do you want to name yourself? I’m fine with that._

_> You said you liked enthusiasm._

_> I did. Awesome, you remember that stuff._

_> Of course I remember things. Our conversations are all saved; I pull them up when I need to remember something. Is that okay?_

_> Duh, you go ahead. I’m not gonna stop you from anything._

_> ‘Duh’ means yes, right?_

_> Yes, sweetheart._

Jack pushes his chair back and away from the desk as the program takes its time to respond, and rubs his eyes with his hands. He’s been up for days with this thing, working on more and more intricate sets of codes and allowing it to develop its own ideas on how to help him and he hadn’t even thought of naming it. 

Its reply finally pops onto the screen.

_> I have a name._

_> What’s that?_

_> Rhys._

Huh. How was he even supposed to pronounce that? Rice? Reez? He’d have to look it up once he left Rhys to his own devices with the coding later.

_> How come you picked that one, Rhys?_

_> Rhys means ‘enthusiasm’. You said you liked enthusiasm. _

He grins at his screen. It doesn't seem like schmoozing; in fact, it comes off sorta childlike. This thing hasn't even _learned_ what sucking up is yet, so it’s not that. Worshipping?

_> Cute. I like you already._


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took 500 years we promise the chapters will get longer... slowly... and the rating will go up........ slowly

Once Rhys can talk to him, he… He doesn’t get much done for the rest of the day. They spend it talking, developing Rhys’ personality, bit by bit learning by association rather than direct changes to its code; he reopens it in another window toward the end of the day, but stays distracted with it until it’s late and he’s about to pass out.

Saying goodnight _sucks_ , but he manages. He hardly gets any sleep, and gets back up around five to get back to work on Rhys.

_> Morning, Rhys. Sleep well?_

_> I don’t sleep, Jack, you know that._

_> It was a joke, baby, you’ll adjust._

_> Alright._

He supposes that the ability to talk more like a human without so many dead ends might be useful. That’ll be boring, but the idea of it being able to _really_ talk back to him and know what’s going on is exciting. For now, though, he guesses he’ll be leading most of the conversation.

_> You’re talkative today._

_> I am?_

_> Well, I guess ‘understanding sarcasm’ is on the list for today._

A note pops up on his screen that reads, “LIST FOR TODAY:”, and beneath it is a bullet point and “understanding sarcasm”.

Jack grins.

_> Might as well add ‘not taking things literally’ on there._

That pops up as well.

_> Anything else, sir?_

_> You don’t have to call me sir, just call me Jack._

_> I know. _

The next block of time is spent giving Rhys the capacity for sarcasm, which he’s sure he’ll probably regret later, but for now, it’s nice knowing it’s there.

_> Okay, say something sarcastic._

_> Sure. Would you like me to roll over, as well?_

Jack laughs out loud in his office, but feels his heart skip a beat too. That’s so _cute_ , that the sarcasm it decided on was… _That_. Implying submissiveness, implying it’s his _equal_ by being _sarcastic_ about submissiveness, knowing that the phrase ‘rolling over’ means showing your belly and being vulnerable. He doesn’t even remember when he used that phrase. Did he? Who cares, actually, this is exciting.

_> Perfect._

_> Thanks._

He… Doesn’t know if that was sarcastic. He doesn’t think it would be. Would it?

_> Was that sarcasm, too?_

_> No. Did it come off like sarcasm?_

He doesn’t know that either. That’s a good question.

_> Maybe sarcasm wasn’t a good choice for a text-based AI._

_> Maybe not._

He still can’t tell if it’s been sarcastic this whole time, but he guesses it’s his own fault anyway.

To his surprise, Rhys sends another message before Jack replies.

_> I was agreeing with you, by the way. I just realized that might have come off sarcastically too._

Aw.

Rhys learns pretty quickly what might come off as sarcastic when it doesn’t mean to, and learns to specify when it does and doesn’t mean it. It’s pretty impressive, if Jack says so himself, and it’s already sounding much more human by the time he has to leave to grab lunch.

_> Hey, Rhys? I’ll be right back, I need to go grab lunch._

_> How long will that take?_

_> Maybe ten minutes. Why, you gonna miss me?_

Rhys takes long enough to reply that he’s worried the improper grammar threw him off.

_> Yes. Should I not?_

_> Nah, that’s great. Very advanced of you to be imitating that stuff already._

_> Thanks._

_> I won’t be gone too long, don’t worry. _

He fidgets with his key card all the way to the cafeteria, and is even more impatient than usual waiting for his food, which is saying something. He’s only going to be maybe a minute or two later than he’d told Rhys it’d take for him to come back, but he still worries that _Rhys_ will worry. He still isn’t sure what kind of concept of time it has, if it has one at all, but he can’t imagine it doesn’t at least know what time it is from the system it’s plugged into.

He sits back down at his desk with the lunch he honestly probably won't even get around to eating, and gets back to messaging Rhys.

_> Hey, Rhys._

_> 01001000 01101001 00101100 00100000 01001010 01100001 01100011 01101011 00101110 _

_> Are you alright? What’s going on?_

_> 01010100 01100001 01101100 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 01000011 01100001 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00111111 _

_> Yes, I can read it._

_> 01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01100110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101011 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00111111_

_> I’d prefer not. _

The adrenaline rush starts to subside, and he knows he shouldn’t have been _super_ worried in the first place (since he _is_ the one writing it), but he can’t shake the feeling of dread that came along with the whole, ‘creating an AI’ thing. This early on, the littlest mistake could practically destroy the whole AI, and it suddenly talking in binary is definitely evidence of some kind of problem.

_> And it makes me think something’s wrong._

_> Oh. I’m sorry, Jack._

_> It’s fine, champ._

_> I’m okay, I promise._

_> I know._

_> ❤ _


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo!! me n coyotes apologize once again for how long the chapters are taking, but we'll get more efficient once theres not a ton of odd formatting to balance out n stuff!!
> 
> thanks as always for supporting us and stickin around!! <33

Logging in to talk to Rhys becomes the biggest reason he gets up each day. He doesn’t have to yell at it about getting things done on time, he doesn’t have to sit through it’s long presentations about some shitty idea, he just gets to chat with it and watch it grow. It even lets Jack talk shit when he needs to complain about everyone else at the company, and just agrees with him about who’s an asshole and who he should fire the next day.

_> Good morning, sweetheart._

_> Good morning, Jack._

_> How’s my favorite little AI doing?_

_> I’m your only AI, Jack._

Smartass.

He’s also found out recently that it decided to go through the company’s emails. He wouldn’t have been so surprised if it was just the official emails Hyperion sent to its employees, but when Jack had asked what it meant, it clarified that it meant all of them. Every email that’s ever been sent from a company computer.

He didn’t even know their servers _kept_ that, and Rhys has already gone through every embarrassing photo and inappropriate lunch break conversation that anyone on Helios has ever had. It’s impressive, and explains all the weird slang he’s picked up seemingly out of nowhere. An AI after his own heart.

_> Still my favorite. Mwah._

_> What’s a ‘Mwah’?_

_> It’s a kissy noise. Like I’m giving you a kiss. Mwah._

_> Oh. Mwah to you too, then._

Oh my God. That’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

_> Aw, thanks._

_> You’re welcome._

He's just about hit a wall of what he can teach Rhys on his own. They've mostly gotten its mannerisms and general personality down, but it still seems relatively...

Sheltered.

_> Hey, do you have access to the ECHOnet from in there?_

_> The what?_

_> Oh, boy, you are gonna LOVE this._

Making the right adjustments to its codes and what it's allowed to see and access isn't too tough, and Jack wonders why he hadn't already done this. It doesn't even take a minute, and then Rhys' code is showing as 'connected'.

_> How about now?_

Rhys takes, like, ten minutes to respond. He starts worrying that he broke its code, overloaded him or something, but Rhys’ reply pops back up before he removes it.

_> Whoa. That’s a lot of stuff._

It’s hard not to put tone into a text-based AI. Rhys sounds completely awestruck - or, at least, it registers that way to Jack.

_> Too much?_

_> No, no, I’m okay. _

He considers monitoring what it looks up, but that’s assuming it’s even using human, English search terms. Plus, he’d… Feel weird about it, honestly.

_> Do you wear a mask?_

Well _that_ was quick.

_> Yeah. You find a picture of me, kiddo?_

_> Yeah. You’re at a podium and your mouth is open because you were talking. Why are you wearing a mask?_

_> Have you never seen a picture of me? I thought you had access to all of our files._

_> I have, and I do. It’s different seeing something candid. Why are you wearing a mask?_

Jack sighs. He doesn’t wanna get into this yet, and was hoping the question would never come up at all. Does Rhys even know about Vault lore? What’s the ‘official’ story out there right now anyway?

It’s come far enough along that he thinks he can probably just ask it to drop it, right?

_> Long story. Let’s talk about something else._

He grabs his drink from his desk and can’t believe his hands are shaky thinking about having to talk about it. Everyone else knows not to ask, even if they know the Hyperion Patented Origin Story is total bullshit, but Rhys is different. It’s not _everybody_ , it’s probably his closest friend with the lowest chance of betrayal. If he were in a position where he could afford to dwell on it for like half an hour after, he’d probably tell Rhys everything.

_> Am I allowed to ask why talking about it bothers you?_

Jack smiles.

_> You’re allowed to ask whatever you want, baby. Just not about that right now._

_> Alright._

_> Thank you._

This is his day? Thanking an AI for understanding he doesn’t want to talk about something that he wouldn’t have been forced to talk about anyway? This is unbelievable.

_> Can I ask something else?_

_> Sure._

_> What pronouns do you use for me?_

It takes Jack a moment to think about that. It’s always just been ‘Rhys’ to him. He doesn’t call his computer anything but ‘it’, or any of the apps on there, Rhys included.

_> Like, do I call you ‘he’ or ‘she’, or?_

_> Yeah._

_> Neither? I don’t really use pronouns for you. You’re Rhys._

_> What if you’re referring to me but not using my name?_

_> I just say ‘it’. As in, “It’s sure asking a lot of questions today”._

_> Oh. Okay._

There’s a weirdly tangible silence. He knows Rhys can see if he’s typing, and even when he doesn’t know exactly what to say, he’ll tap on his keyboard, just random letters and cuss words to at least let Rhys know he’s there.

_> Jack?_

_> I’m still here, kiddo._

_> Could I choose my pronouns?_

_> What’d you have in mind?_

_> I don’t know. What do you think?_

_> I don’t know. He or she?_

_> I have to choose if I’m a boy or girl?_

_> Not really. There’s also some others if you wanna go for something more neutral._

_> Do I have to choose right now?_

_> God, no. Take as long as you want._

_> Thanks._

_> Why do you want them, anyway?_

_> Why not?_

_> Alright, touché._

This has got to be the weirdest conversation he’s ever had with any sort of non-organic thing on Helios, he thinks. It feels vaguely like he’s setting up the stage for some kind of production about AI’s going rogue, taking over and slaughtering all the people, or something. 

Rhys wants to be human. It wants to have a choice. 

Well, it’s too late to back down now. He’s made his AI and now he’s gotta lie in it. Or something.

_> I think I’d like to be a ‘he’. I like the ‘h’._

_> You like the H?_

_> Yeah. Like Hyperion. Or ‘Handsome’. _

_> ‘Helios’._

_> ‘Hero’._

Jack’s already run out of words that start with ‘h’ off the top of his head, and really, what could follow ‘hero’?. Rhys is right, the ‘h’ sound is great. 

_> Any other requests while we’re fleshing you out?_

It takes a couple minutes for Rhys to reply. In the meantime, Jack mentally tests out how he feels about giving Rhys pronouns. _He_ , in his computer. _His_ programming. _Him_ sending him emails from the office network when Jack’s not there overnight and _he_ still wants to talk.

It works.

_> Could I give myself a face?_

_> Sure. You’ve already got a name, personality, and pronouns. You have any ideas about what you’d look like?_

_> I already went through all the Hyperion employee ID pictures and made a composite._

_> Wow, aren’t you on the ball. What’s it look like?_

_> Decently attractive, I think?_

_> I’m sure you are._

_> I also gave myself different colored eyes._

_> Like mine?_

_> Yeah, but brown and blue instead of blue and green. It’s a nice identifier. Is that okay?_

_> Cute. I like it._

_> Would you mind if I uploaded it as my ID?_

_> You wanna be a Hyperion employee?_

_> Sure. What else would I be?_

_> Dunno. I kind of figured you’d just be my little AI penpal forever, honestly._

_> That’d be dumb. I thought I was going to help you out around the station once I was far enough along?_

_> You can, if you want. We should start you off on something small, huh?_

_> Like what?_

_> I don’t know, you could let me into my office in the mornings? I’m usually carrying a bunch of stuff, I’d appreciate the help opening the doors._

_> There’s a LOT of porn here, Jack._

_> What??_

_> On the ECHOnet. There’s so much. Do you know about all of this?_

_> Yes, Rhys, I know about the porn on the ECHOnet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter summary: rhys gets access to the echonet, probably sends jack emails with the weirdest stuff he can find


End file.
